Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Cuba

 

Former AQ Innovator Detained in Cuba

Americas Quarterly was saddened to hear that one of it​s former Innovators, Antonio Rodiles, was among the democratic activists detained this week in Cuba.  Antonio and others were heading to a peaceful rally organized by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera at Havana’s Revolution Square.  The event, titled #YoTambiénExijo (I Also Demand), was planned to be a series of open-mic presentations … Read more

 

Shadows of History on the Future of U.S.-Cuban Relations

“There’s a complicated history between the United States and Cuba,” President Obama acknowledged in his December 17 announcement of a new opening to Cuba. He couched the new approach to relations in terms of the need to abandon the failed policy of the last 54 years. A longer look at the history of U.S.-Cuban relations, … Read more

 

U.S.–Cuba Agreement: Diplomacy At Its Best

That there would be a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations seemed inevitable.  After all, the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the Castro brothers are getting on in years. And yet, there is a sense that a new era is beginning with the joint Barack Obama–Raúl Castro announcement, and … Read more

 

Cuba Releases Alan Gross on Humanitarian Grounds

Cuba released 65-year-old former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contractor Alan Gross from prison today on humanitarian grounds, paving the way for normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison for alleged espionage after he was arrested in December 2009 for bringing satellite equipment to Cuba. This … Read more

 

The Non-Trade Trade

At the beginning of President Barack Obama’s first term, moves toward normalization between the United States and Cuba briefly seemed possible. Restrictions on travel and remittances were loosened, and Obama hinted at bigger changes during the April 2009 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. However, the political space in the United States quickly … Read more

 

Monday Memo: Colombia Peace Talks — U.S. Refugee Status — Petrobras Arrests — Cuba Tourism — Pemex Investments

This week’s likely top stories: Colombia’s peace talks suspended over kidnapping; U.S. will grant refugee status to select minors from Central America; Brazilian police arrest 27 in Petrobras corruption scandal; Cruise ship tourism is booming in Cuba; Pemex invests millions in hydrocarbon production and exploration. Kidnapping Halts Colombian Peace Talks: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos … Read more

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Cuba and the Summits of the Americas

In the coming months, the United States is going to face a tough choice: either alter its policy toward Cuba or face the virtual collapse of its diplomacy in Latin America. The upcoming Summit of the Americas, the seventh meeting of democratically elected heads of state throughout the Americas, due to convene in April 2015 … Read more

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A Skeptic’s View on the “Peace Dividend”

On July 20, 2010, President Juan Manuel Santos promised the 9 million voters who had just elected him to his first term that he would build on the foundation created “by a giant, our President Álvaro Uribe.”1 He declared that Colombia could now look to the future with hope, thanks to the multiple successes that … Read more

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Double Trouble: Currency Unification in Cuba

After nearly 20 years, the dual currency system enacted by Cuba to help mitigate the economic shock from the collapse of the Soviet Union is set to be retired. As part of the government’s efforts to develop the country’s socialist economy, the Cuban government recently announced that it would unify its complicated currency system. In … Read more

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Why Entrepreneurship Matters in Cuba

For almost two decades, I have watched entrepreneurship explode across Latin America and the Caribbean, empowering citizens, transforming economies and changing lives. In sectors ranging from restaurants and small manufacturing to high tech, entrepreneurs are changing the economic and social landscape of the region. Perhaps most important, they are also generating jobs. Across the region, … Read more

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Can Cuba’s Economic Reforms Succeed?

The impression most casual observers receive today from Cuba is that since Raúl Castro assumed power in 2006, the country has been going through a dramatic transition to a market economy. But while what the younger Castro brother has called “structural reforms” are important steps toward a market under Cuba’s revolutionary government, they are a … Read more

Cuba: The New Leaders

Yoani Sánchez smiles during a news conference that was part of her 80-day tour of South America, Europe and the U.S. in 2013. Photo: UESLEI MARCELINO/REUTERS. Read profiles of: Miguel Díaz-Canel Yamina Vicente MalPaso The Faculty of Economics Yoani Sánchez Miguel Díaz-Canel By Michael Voss Up from the provinces: Miguel Díaz-Canel waves to the crowds … Read more

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Cuba’s New Business Class

A palpable energy is reinvigorating the once-stagnant Cuban economy. Entrepreneurial businesses—spanning all sectors and industries—are springing up across the island. Walking through the streets of Havana, Santa Clara or Camagüey, it’s hard not to trip over construction sites for private restaurants, or see the storefronts offering manicures, haircuts, cell phone repairs, or colorful artwork. View … Read more

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